It astounds me what a tiny lil person needs. Or perhaps the right phrase is ‘the capability of having without realising it’. M keeps saying ‘baby wont care!’ or ‘he wont know!’ but I would!! we were arguing-uhuk-discussing on which bath mat to buy…. the dull beige kiddicare one or very cute, green-yellow jungle-themed one — the difference is 2 pounds btw. ‘every penny counts now’ :s

Before 31 weeks, I refused to look deeply into any baby stuff, superficially looking at cots and leaving M to search for the perfect travel system (its not a buggy or stroller or pram, its a TRAVEL SYSTEM).

Anyway, the first qs is: what does a baby REALLY need? And I tried to think of the babies in special care of how they are from the first moment they wake up, get changed, feeding etc. (vest, sleepsuit, socks, mittens, hat, blankets, mueslin cloth….)

And then I looked at the ‘essential baby items’ – googled of course – and see what the consensus are. And I’ve more or less figured:

1. What baby REALLY needs
2. What we can buy later on (read: during xmas sale, and not that essential yet)
3. What we would like but not essential

So packed with our list, which I’ll post it later (if not lazy), we went to kiddicare, an apparently amazing shopping warehouse place that can make your head hurts. One of the drs I worked with is expecting jua (wife preggy, he’s just v enthusiastic) and said they spent a WHOLE day there. And this other Dr whose sister was pregnant was amazed with the selection of baby rocker swing/bouncers – baby rocker swing!!

So we decided we’ll check this place out. It’s an hour away in peterborough…and turned out to be almost as big as The Mall, Gadong. The second floor is all for strollers/car seats and the third floor is furniture – cots/closet/chest of drawers kinda thing. After just 2 hours, including food break of fish and chips, I was getting tired and cranky and had enough of looking at cots, thank you. (Menyamal jua sikit pasal the cot I wanted, this beautiful wooden cot, is indeed too big for our place and expensive BOO!)

We didnt get EVERYTHING but it sure got me thinking and realising what to buy for lil bebeh. The place was slightly cheaper jua than in shops – kinda warehouse style pricing. The more you buy, the cheaper it is. I think for a whole box of diapers, about 150 diapers (cant remember brand…pampers kali), it costs GBP 17. Murah kah tu? Macam murah saja. We didnt buy it though. We bought a lot of baby wipes and nappy bags and a bottle or two of baby wash/oil/etc.

There was a row of travel/changing bags and it ranges from the dull, mumsy kind to stylish ones. Drools! Didn’t buy one though cos couldnt commit to one.

BathingBathtub – we haven’t decided whether to buy this until yesterday. Our apartment isnt big and the bathtub in stores looks too big! Inda dapat pakai sink saja kah? We found a mini one! It lasts till 7 months, but then baby will be big enough to be on bathtub!
TowelBath wash thingy
ChangingChanging mat
Diapers – and the amount we need!Baby wipes
Cotton woolPowderNappy bags – We’ve decided to put nappy in bag and buang in sealed 50p bin (no thanks, Mothercare)
Grooming set

FeedingBibsMueslin cloths

As gonna have 6 months of maternity leave, thinking maybe don’t need bottles/bottle pump just yet? And can wait for Xmas sale? Or maybe should just get ready ‘just in case’ baby cant put to breast as perfectly imagined?

(Breast pads given as ‘gifts’ hehe! – check)

TravelCar seat Stroller
Changing bag

Miscellaneous
Thermometer – I get annoyed when babies/children come to hospital with fever but temperature not checked at home. Hehe! So MUST HAVE thermometer.

Ok, so there’s still a lot to buy but feel better that I know the average price for stuff above and where to buy it. So am I on the right track? Can I delete some stuff above? (hopeful)

Enough baby-stuff-shopping talk.

Love lots,
Me

ps. FOUR more working days to leave! Eeks! Sedih ada jua but a lot more relieved!